


Unrestrained

by Twice_before_Friday



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Brightwell, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Malcolm Bright Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22017754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twice_before_Friday/pseuds/Twice_before_Friday
Summary: It starts with a casual, offhanded comment, just over 5 months into their relationship, when Dani wakes up one morning wedged awkwardly beneath one of the restraint straps and hopelessly tangled in the sheets. She laughs as she extricates herself from the makeshift prison, waking Malcolm from his fitful sleep. He notices her predicament and immediately moves to help, apologizing for putting her in such an uncomfortable situation, but she just turns her thousand-watt smile on him and pauses in her untangling to lean over and brush her lips against his.“We should try this without the restraints one day,” she murmurs, lips still pressed lightly against his. Then she continues in her endeavour to unravel herself, finally getting to her feet and padding to the bathroom to get ready for the day, Malcolm watching her go with a fond smile that’s laced with a hint of uncertainty.
Relationships: Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell
Comments: 21
Kudos: 166





	Unrestrained

**Author's Note:**

> I was aiming to write something fluffy, since everything else I've written has been kind of angsty, and this is what happened. I think I sort of succeeded?

It starts with a casual, offhanded comment, just over 5 months into their relationship, when Dani wakes up one morning wedged awkwardly beneath one of the restraint straps and hopelessly tangled in the sheets. She laughs as she extricates herself from the makeshift prison, waking Malcolm from his fitful sleep. He notices her predicament and immediately moves to help, apologizing for putting her in such an uncomfortable situation, but she just turns her thousand-watt smile on him and pauses in her untangling to lean over and brush her lips against his.

“We should try this without the restraints one day,” she murmurs, lips still pressed lightly against his. Then she continues in her endeavour to unravel herself, finally getting to her feet and padding to the bathroom to get ready for the day, Malcolm watching her go with a fond smile that’s laced with a hint of uncertainty.

Since then, Dani has spent more nights at Bright’s apartment than her own place, and she’s brought it up with increasing frequency as the months went on. At some point, it turned from casual comments to a sustained attack, but Bright is as unbudging as Dani is insistent.

Deep down, though, they both know it's only a matter of time before Malcolm caves and gives in to Dani's wishes. It isn’t that she's relentless in her campaign (though she really, really is), it's that he's fallen in love with her and wants nothing more than to give her everything she could possibly ever want. So about 8 months into their relationship when he realizes that this is the thing that she wants most – to be able to curl up with him as they sleep, to add one more intimacy to their already unwavering relationship – he finally relents.

They're cleaning up after a late dinner, discussing their most recent case as Malcolm washes their dishes and passes them to Dani to dry and put away, that Malcolm casually throws it out there.

“So… I was thinking we could try sleeping without the restraints tonight,” he was clearly aiming for breezy, but his voice is so tight and anxiety-laden that it feels like he just tossed an unpinned hand grenade between them. Dani freezes with her hand halfway up to the cupboard where she's putting a glass away, turning her head to stare at Malcolm, who is unmoving and unblinking at the sink, holding a plate in a two-handed death-grip just above the soapy water. 

She slowly moves to put the glass away, then walks over beside Bright and lays one hand on top of his on the edge of the plate as she rests her chin on his shoulder. She can feel the faint tremble running through his hand and up his arm, can hear how rapid his breathing has become as he waits for a response, and suddenly she feels terrible for the constant pressure she'd been putting on him.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, wrapping her free hand around his waist and holding him close.

He blinks rapidly for several seconds before turning his head to face her, eyebrows drawing together in confusion.

“For what?” he asks.

“For pressuring you into doing this. You’re not ready, and that’s okay. We don’t have to do it,” she says earnestly.

“I am ready. I’m fine,” Malcolm protests, but she cuts him off.

“Right. So this is the return of your 'never better shaky hand'?” she arches an eyebrow at him while giving a light squeeze to the hand she's holding over the sink.

He sighs and drops his head to his chest as she pulls the plate from his hand and drops it into the soapy water to be dealt with later. She takes the tea towel off the counter and dries her hands before reaching for his, which are resting limply on the edge of the sink. She’s gentle as she pats his hands dry and then interlaces her fingers with his, pulling him over to the leather sofa. She lets him sit first and then curls up beside him, tucking her bare feet beneath his leg.

His hands are fidgeting in his lap and he’s refusing to meet her eyes, and she knows him well enough to spot when he’s beating himself up. She gently reaches a hand out to cup his chin and turn his head towards her.

“Your hands are cold,” he mutters, eyes still downcast. She waits in silence with her hand still cradling his face, running her thumb back and forth along his stubble, until he finally glances up at her.

“I love you,” she states firmly. And it’s hardly the first time she’s said it, but the way his face lights up every time he hears it, makes her want to spend all of eternity repeating it to him over and over and over. “And if we spend the rest of our lives sleeping together with you in those restraints, I will still love every night, as long as I’m with you.”

Malcolm offers a sad little half smile, secretly thrilled that Dani just envisioned spending their lives together, but at the same time worried that she was missing out on a regular life by being with him. He's been thinking lately that she deserves someone who doesn’t need to be strapped down every night, but he’s far too selfish to let her go. So he’s willing to try to be that regular guy. For her. Anything for her.

“I want to try,” he says, looking at her intently, needing her to know the truth. “I'm just… nervous.”

She’s no profiler, but she is a damn good detective, and she can tell he means it. He’s not just saying it because she’s been on his case for months. She nods slowly, chewing thoughtfully on her lip.

“You know I’ll wake you if you start having nightmares, right?” she asks. “And I won’t let you go sleepwalking out into the streets?”

“Of course. I’m not afraid of the nightmares, Dani. Or of waking up in the middle of the night in an unsavoury area of the city.” That had happened once when he fell asleep on the couch, and no one was eager for a repeat performance. But that wasn’t really the issue. “I’m afraid I’ll hurt you.”

She leans in and kisses him, a tender brush of the lips that quickly becomes more passionate. Turns needy. Dani needs Bright to know that she truly understands his fears, and loves him all the more because of them. Malcolm needs Dani to know that he loves her more than anything he'd ever thought possible, and it would shatter him if he hurt her.

Malcolm reaches over and slides his hands under her hips, lifting and tugging her up and over so that she’s straddling his lap, shifting the angle of their kiss to make it deeper and infinitely better. It makes her stomach swoop and flutter, the ease with which he can just manhandle her into position. Time slows while they explore each other with a passionate slide of lips and tongues and hands. It’s all panting breaths and quiet moans as they wordlessly convey everything they need the other to know. 

It slows down naturally, neither of them needing it to go any further. Dani leans her forehead against Malcolm’s as they catch their breath, Malcolm’s hands rubbing up and down the outside of Dani's thighs while Dani's hands rest on Bright's chest. When they finally open their eyes, Malcolm looks up at Dani and smiles before leaning in to give a quick peck to the tip of her nose. 

“So we’re gonna try it then?” he asks.

“You really want to?” she quirks a brow. At his firm nod, she shimmies back off his lap and stands up in front of him, offering him a hand and pulling him to his feet. “Then let’s do this.”

They take their time getting ready for bed, playfully bumping into one another as they brush their teeth and change into pyjamas, taking time to share smiles and quick little kisses as they go. But by the time they actually head to the bed, Malcolm’s apprehension has returned with a vengeance. It’s with shaky hands that he takes the restraints and drops them over the sides of the bed onto the floor, and his smile has completely vanished by the time they crawl under the blankets.

Malcolm lies stiffly on his back and Dani curls herself around him, willing her calm to seep through the layers of skin and clothing between them and flow directly into him. She rests her head on his chest and throws one of her legs over his, literally using her body as a replacement for his restraints in an effort to allay his fears. But she can feel the tension pulling tight and humming through his entire body.

She slowly rubs her hand up and down his side beneath his t-shirt, trying to calm his frayed nerves. She deliberately slows her breathing into a deep and even pattern and feels her lips quirk upwards as Malcolm eventually matches his breathing to hers, a teeny, tiny bit of tension bleeding away with the languid breathing. It still takes over an hour before Malcolm calms enough to move one of his hands to Dani's hair, gently massaging her scalp, and she feels the last of the tension leaving her own body as she finally slides off towards sleep.

“You good?” she mumbles sleepily into his chest.

“Go to sleep,” he whispers, smiling just a little at the warm and drowsy question. And she does. Her hand stills its meandering journey over his skin and her breathing slows even further. Malcolm lifts his head to place a kiss on the top of her curls then settles in for a very long night.

Throughout the night, every time he almost drops off into sleep, a surge of fear shoots through him and his eyes slam open while he gasps in a shuttering breath. Every. Single. Time.

By the time the sun rises, he’s wound so tight that he knows he’s going to be edgy and on a hair-trigger all day. Shortly before the alarm is scheduled to go off, a car alarm goes off in the street below and Malcolm nearly jumps out of his skin. Dani wakes up as Bright's body shudders violently beneath her and she jerks up in bed, her cop instincts taking her from sound asleep to fully alert in less than three seconds. She looks up at Bright, who is now propped against the headboard and breathing in short, shallow gasps. She immediately notices the dark circles under his eyes and the spooked look on his face and knows that he hasn’t slept a wink.

She sighs and pulls herself up to the headboard to sit next to him, taking one of his hands in hers and bringing it up to her lips to kiss his knuckles. They sit in silence for a few minutes while Malcolm regains control of his breathing and his pounding heart.

“This was a terrible idea. I’m sorry,” Dani eventually whispers. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he said, flashing his too-wide smile at her. It was the same smile that the whole team had figured out within a week of working with him. The smile that he flashed as he announced that he was fine, but that really meant he was anything but. Before Dani can even scoff at Bright's terrible attempt at covering how he's really feeling, his alarm goes off, loudly sending his uplifting music bursting into the air like a firework.

Bright startles hard but jumps out of bed to cover the sudden movement, mumbling about hitting the shower as he makes his way to the bathroom. The sound of the door lock latching behind him tugs at her heart; they never lock the door. Dani pulls her knees up and wraps her arms around her legs, dropping her head onto her knees and letting a few tears escape before Bright finishes in the bathroom.

She keeps close to him at work the whole day and gives Gil a look to let him know that Malcolm needs to be kept off-scene for the day. Gil can tell just by looking at him that something’s wrong and jumps onboard immediately. They work together to keep Bright occupied with paperwork the whole day, but when it comes time to leave at the end of the day and Malcolm quietly pulls Dani to the side, she knows exactly what he’s about to say.

“I think maybe you should sleep at your place tonight,” he’s looking over her shoulder as he says it, unable to work up the nerve to look her in the eye.

As much as she hates it, she knows it's what he needs and agrees immediately, leaning in to kiss him quickly and wrap him in a loving hug before he pulls away, blushing, and heads home.

She spends the night in a restless sleep in her own bed, which no longer feels familiar to her.

He spends the night alone and restrained in his bed, waking up screaming and straining against his bindings three separate times during the night.

They spend the next night apart again, at his insistence.

The night after that, he practically begs her to come back. He has her strap him in extra tightly before she crawls into bed with him and they settle in like they used to. It’s the first good night’s sleep he gets in 3 days. 

Things ease back to normal quickly after that, and Dani is determined to never suggest foregoing the restraints again. So she is completely dumbstruck when Bright brings it up a few months after their first attempt of an unfettered sleep.

They're walking back to Malcolm’s apartment from the Chinese place a few blocks over when he brings it up. A cold front is expected to move in during the night, so they’re taking advantage of the warmish weather by strolling slowly, arm in arm, in no hurry to get back inside.

“Dani,” he says, and she can tell from his tone and the way he drags out her name that he’s unsure about whatever he’s about to say. So she slides her hand down his arm and takes his hand in hers, giving it a quick squeeze, letting him know that everything is okay. He grins at her and she gets a little bit lost in thoughts of how beautiful he is when he truly smiles, so she’s legitimately blindsided when he says, “I think we should revisit sleeping without the restraints.”

She stops in her tracks, eyebrows shooting up into her hairline.

“I’m sorry, what?”

He turns to face her on the sidewalk, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking terribly uncomfortable.

“I mean, if you'd be up for trying it again,” he qualifies. 

She stands there frozen, staring at him in disbelief for several seconds before she blurts out the first thing that comes to mind.

“But. Why?”

She wants to take the words back immediately as his face sort of crumples and she realizes that he’s taken her response as an unwillingness to try again. She reaches forward and grabs his elbows before he can turn away.

“It’s not that I don’t want to try,” she says hastily. “I’m just surprised you want to try again. Last time wasn’t really a success.”

He smiles sheepishly at the reminder, but answers immediately.

“It’s just that the night terrors have been better lately, so I’m less likely to go off the deep end. And, well, I just want to make sure that I can give you… well. I was thinking maybe it’s time.”

It’s clear that he has more to say, but isn’t ready to say it. And Dani has learned her lesson about pushing, so she lets it slide. She leans forward and threads her arms through the spaces left between his sides and his arms, wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him close.

“Okay. So we try again,” she says, smiling reassuringly at him.

And once again Malcolm is astonished by the amazing woman standing in front of him. The petite, powerful, loving woman that completely changed his life and showed him everything he could have, and everything he could be. Who has been there for him since their very first case together. Who has supported him through so much – all of the night terrors and self destructive behaviours and poor choices – and still sleeps next to him every night, even though it can’t be especially comfortable because of the restraints.

He thinks about the ring that he has hidden in a drawer at home and wishes that he had it with him right now. But he's promised himself that he will prove that he can give her a normal life before he pops the question. And a big part of that is making sure that they can share a bed without him being cuffed to the wall.

Which is precisely why he's suggesting that they try again. Because the sooner he can prove to himself (and her) that he can be normal, the sooner he can ask to spend the rest of his life with her.

They make their way home arm in arm and settle on the couch with a movie and some freshly popped popcorn. Dani is hyper-tuned to Malcolm’s state of mind, but he seems fairly calm as they relax against one another, Malcolm throwing an arm over her shoulder and playing with her curls.

As the movie nears its end, she can feel him starting to tense up a bit, but it’s nothing like the last time they tried. Once the movie finishes, they go about their standard nighttime routine to get ready for bed, and though Bright is maybe a little quieter than usual, it’s nothing overly concerning and Dani feels a swell of pride within her, knowing that Malcolm is facing his fears and seems to be holding his own. His strength has always astounded her and tonight is just another example of why. She leans against the bathroom door frame and watches as he deliberately moves the restraints to the floor then turns to face her with a nervous smile. 

She smiles back and pads over to him, wrapping both arms around his waist as she leans in to kiss him. She knows he’s set on it, but she still needs to ask one time.

“You’re sure about this?”

“I am.”

He is sure about it. So sure, that he had spoken with his therapist about it that morning and asked for a prescription for a mild sedative to get him through the night. She had expressed some concerns; after all, he was the one who decided to stop taking them because he felt as though they trapped them in his nightmares. But Malcolm figured that his best chance of sleeping through the night, and also of not having some bizarre sleepwalking episode where he ended up wielding a knife or something at Dani, was to take the sedative. And if he ended up trapped in a nightmare for the night, so be it. Dani was worth the risk.

And so while Dani is turning down the sheets, Malcolm dry swallows one of the pills and then joins her in bed. They curl up against one another, grinning foolishly at the feeling of liberation. They talk quietly for a while as they settle in, and soon the medication kicks in and Malcolm finds himself slowly drifting off to sleep. Dani watches as his eyelids start to droop and is honestly a little surprised. Sleep doesn’t come easily to Bright on the best of days, so she expected that he would be awake for quite a while. She's pleasantly surprised to feel his body go slack as he falls asleep first, and smiles to herself as she snuggles even closer, letting herself drift off as well.

Just before 3am, all hell breaks loose. 

Dani sleeps through Malcolm’s initial whimpers, which are too quiet to disturb her slumber. But the whimpers turn quickly into screams, just before he begins thrashing in his sleep. A shouted “No!” wakes her and has her scrambling to try to wake him as he twists and jerks in his sleep.

“Bright. Bright wake up. It’s just a dream,” she calls out as she tries to capture his hands in hers to prevent him from hurting himself as his thrashing becomes worse. She's getting scared about not being able to wake him as she yells, “Malcolm!”

A flailing elbow catches her cheekbone hard, making her eyes water, but she keeps up the struggle and finally pins his arms down beside him, all the while calling out his name and begging him to wake up. Finally, his eyes open and he stills, but it takes several minutes for him to blink away the glassy-eyed stare and actually notice Dani, who is practically sitting on top of him, gently calling out his name. He's disoriented and confused about what is happening, but even in the relative dimness of the room, he notices the swelling and redness around her eye and can feel the light ache of impact in his elbow. He is able to put two and two together surprisingly quickly considering his terrified and drugged state.

“Oh my god,” he breathes out. “Are you okay?” He automatically moves to reach up to her face, but Dani still has his wrists pinned to his side.

Once she's sure he is fully awake, she lets go of his hands and shifts her weight off of him, moving to sit next to his hip, facing him.

“I’m okay. Are you?” She asked, concern saturating her words. “I couldn’t get you to wake up.”

His brain is still slowly piecing thing things together, but one thing is filling his mind and slowly starting to consume him. He hit her. His breathing stutters as the panic and the shame wash over him. He hit her. His heart rate shoots up as he tries to breathe in but can only mange short, gasping breaths. He hit her. All the years he's tried to convince himself that he isn’t a monster, that his father hasn’t turned him into a monster, all goes out the window in single second. He hit her.

He launches himself out of the bed, sending Dani flinching backwards at the sudden and unexpected movement, and even in his current state of panic, Malcolm notices the flinch and knows that she is scared of him now. Knows that he has destroyed the only thing he has ever loved. He is quickly sliding into a full blown anxiety attack and the only thing he can do is to get himself away from her. To keep her safe.

Before Dani even knows what's happening, Malcolm is running. She scrambles out of bed only seconds after she hears the door bang open, but by the time she gets to the street he's nowhere in sight. She debates with herself about chasing after him, but not only is she unaware which direction he even went, but she’s currently only wearing an oversized t-shirt. Which makes her realize that Malcolm is out there somewhere in sweatpants, a t-shirt and bare feet.

She spins around and runs up to the apartment, grabbing her phone and dialing Gil while she grabs yesterday’s clothes from the chair in the corner. She puts the phone on speaker and tosses it on the bed as she begins to change her clothes as quickly as possible. 

Gil picks up on the second ring with a sleepy but concerned, “Powell. What’s wrong?”

“It’s Bright,” she says while pulling a light knit sweater over her head, and even though it’s muffled, there’s no hiding the tremor in her voice. “He took off and I don’t know where he went.”

“What happened,” Gil asks. He doesn’t seem tired anymore, and it sounds like he’s switched his phone to speaker and is dressing in a hurry now, too.

“He sort of freaked out a little, and just took off. Gil, he didn’t even stop to put shoes on.”

Dani is tough as nails. She’s been called detached, cold, hard, heartless, a bitch, relentless and so many other adjectives because of the stoic façade she presents to the world. Many of those descriptors are true most of the time, and she’s good with that. She likes that about herself. But right now she’s teetering on the edge of a breakdown. She’s only had a few hours of sleep and her adrenaline has been pumping since the moment Bright woke her. She's terrified for him and has no idea how to find him.

“Dani, we’re going to find him,” Gil says with such conviction that Dani feel herself calm down a little. “You said he freaked out. About what?”

Dani huffs out a breath. She doesn’t exactly want to air their dirty laundry, but she knows Gil will understand.

“We tried sleeping without the restraints,” she confesses, sitting on the bed and getting her boots on. “It… didn’t go well.”

“Dani? What happened?”

“He, um, he sort of hit me when he was in the middle of a nightmare. He didn’t mean to, Gil. He wasn’t even awake.”

Gil's sigh is like a tiny burst of static on Dani's end of the phone. 

“I know,” he says quietly. “Are you okay?”

“Of course. I’ll probably have a bit of a shiner, but I’ve had worse,” she delicately probes the area with her fingers as she talks, wincing slightly at the sting. She's telling the truth though, detective work comes with its fair share of skirmishes and she's shown up for work sporting various bruises and other injuries through the years.

She switches the phone off of speaker and lifts it to her ear as she runs to grab her purse, tossing her gun and badge in just to be safe, and heads down to the street. 

“Alright,” Gil says, “how do you want to handle this?”

Dani has just arrived at street level and is pulling the door shut behind herself when Gil’s question makes her realize she has no idea where to start.

“I…” she freezes where she's standing.

“How about you start checking the immediate area and I’ll start checking some of the places Bright used to go to as a kid?” Gil asks, realizing that Dani was maybe too worried to think objectively. 

“Yeah. Okay. That sounds good,” she breathes out. “Thanks Gil.”

“Keep in touch, Powell. And be careful.”

She knows Gil means to be careful wandering the streets in the middle of the night, and doesn’t mean to be careful if she finds Malcolm. But it breaks her heart a little as she remembers the look of self-loathing on Malcolm’s face when he realized he'd hit her. She knows that was why he ran – that he thinks he isn’t safe to be around.

“You too, boss,” she says, then hangs up and slips her phone into her purse.

She takes a deep breath to clear her head and then decides to work in a sort of spiral search pattern, or as close to one as possible in the grided streets of New York. Until she has an idea of which way Malcolm went, she'll have to cover all the available options. With a quick look left and right, she decides to head right (because Bright’s voice is in the back of her head talking about a scientific study that theorizes that a person’s dominant hand tends to influence their directional preferences).

She spends the next few hours walking briskly through the streets, stopping to ask anyone she sees if they've seen a man matching Bright's description run by, but has no luck. She’s been texting Gil the whole time, but Bright hasn’t shown up at any of the places he used to go to when he was a kid and would run away from all of the commotion at home or at school.

Gil calls her as the sun begins to rise, vibrant shades of red and yellow and orange blooming in sky. Dani would normally spare a moment to appreciate the beauty, but right now she’s too stressed to even notice.

“Gil,” she says answering on the first ring, “did you find him?”

“Not yet,” Gil says apologetically, knowing his call got her hopes up. “I just had a thought. What if he’s already gone back to the apartment? Maybe he just needed a bit of time to get his thoughts straight.”

Dani thinks if that were the case, Bright would have called her. But she’s willing to try anything and can always come back to pick up the search if he’s not there.

“Okay,” she decides to go along with Gil's idea. “I’ll go check the apartment. I could use a warmer sweater anyways. I’ll let you know.” The night had turned cold and Dani was shivering, but all she could think about was Bright, alone and barefoot in the streets, probably freezing as she searched for him.

After hanging up, Dani orders an Uber and uses the time while she waits for its arrival to phone Bright’s cell. She knows he left it at home, but figures if he did happen to go back home, maybe he’ll pick up. He doesn’t answer. 

The ride is fast - a spiral search pattern doesn’t take you very far from the center - but even still she finds her leg bouncing as the car carries her home. She flies out of the car before the tires have even stopped and bounds up the steps. She doesn’t expect him to be there, she really doesn’t, but that tiny part of her that refuses to listen to reason and always runs on hope has her holding her breath as she opens the door to the apartment.

“Bright?” she calls out. Sunshine chirping in her cage is the only response she gets.

She drops onto the unmade bed, giving herself a moment to just be sad. With a weary sigh, she pulls her phone out and sends Gil a quick text _he’s not here_. Then she gets back to her feet and readies herself to go back out. She uses the bathroom, drinks a glass of water, and decides to grab Malcolm’s old Harvard sweater, hoping that having a piece of him close to her will keep her focused.

She pulls open the drawer where Bright keeps his sweatshirts and runs her fingers over the much loved sweater. She doesn’t generally wear his clothes but is willing to admit that she could use a little comfort right now. She pulls the sweater out and sitting there beneath it is a little blue box. Her breath leaves her in a whoosh as she knows instinctively what it is. Reaching forward with trembling hands, she picks up the box and holds it a moment, debating with herself if she should open it or put it back and pretend she’s never seen it. But Dani has always needed to know everything, it’s one of the many reasons she became a cop in the first place. 

She slowly opens the box and sucks a sharp breath in as her eyes land on the perfectly clear emerald-cut diamond ring nestled in the box. The large stone is surrounded by smaller diamonds, all of which are sparkling beautifully in the first rays of the morning sun, casting tiny specks of light through the room as she moves the box in her hand. It’s absolutely stunning. It’s elegant and classy and, though she’s certain it likely cost more than her annual salary, it doesn’t seem flashy or over the top.

“Oh, Bright,” she whispers as she closes the lid. 

Acting on instinct, she places the box in her purse and takes a steadying breath before turning to leave the apartment once again, ready to continue her search. She’s halfway down the stairs when her phone rings and she quickly pulls it out and sees Gil's name on the screen.

“It was a good thought, Gil, but it doesn’t look like he’s been home,” she says immediately.

“I know. I found him,” Gil says, adding, “he’s fine,” before Dani even has a chance to ask.

Dani sinks down to the stairs at the news, so relieved that her entire body is tingling and she feels a little light headed for a second.

“Dani?” Gil asks, concerned at her silence.

“Thank you, Gil,” she whispers as she leans her elbows on her knees and drops her head into the hand that’s not anxiously holding the phone to her ear. “Where was he?”

“Sitting outside the American Museum of Natural History. We used to come here when he was a boy,” Gil said fondly. “He told me once that he liked that it gave him answers, because there were so many questions that he had that nobody seemed to have an answer for.”

Dani chuckled. How very Bright.

“Has he said anything?” she asked.

Gil huffed out a sigh. “He says he can’t go back. That he won’t risk hurting you again. I told him I’ll take him back to my place. It’s the only way I could get him into the car. Why don’t you meet us there and we’ll figure it out.” There’s a brief pause before Gil hurriedly adds, “Look, I gotta go, I have him sitting in the car but he’s looking kind of twitchy and I want to get back over there before he pulls another runner.”

“Sure, Gil. And thanks again.”

She hangs up the phone and just sits on the stairs for a few minutes, relief washing over her now that she knows he’s safe. Eventually she orders another Uber and heads outside to wait. The same driver shows up a few minutes later and she hops in, anxious to go talk to Bright.

The car ride feels like it takes forever, but they soon pull up in front of Gil's place and she hops out and rushes up the front steps. She takes a nervous breath before tapping lightly on the door. 

Gil answers right away, with a sad smile on his face.

“He’s in the shower warming up,” he says, gesturing her in. They head into the small kitchen where Gil already has a fresh pot of coffee brewing. He pulls out three cups and takes the cream out of the fridge as he waits for the pot to finish.

“Does he know you called me over?” she asks.

“No,” Gil chuckles, “and he’s not gonna be happy with me.”

He takes the pot and pours two mugs full of the strong brew, adding a splash of cream to Dani's, before coming to join her at the table. She takes a sip and offers an appreciative hum as the warmth spreads through her, soothing her frayed nerves. They sit in silence, sipping their coffee, until the sound of the water rushing through the pipes ceases and they look at one another with identical looks of worry.

“I’m going to go sit on the front stoop and enjoy this cup of coffee,” Gil says as he rises to his feet.

Dani smiles up at him, knowing that not only is he giving them space to talk, but he’s also cutting off Malcolm’s exit at the same time.

With a brief nod, Gil leaves the kitchen, and Dani hears the front door open and close softly as he leaves. She clutches her mug tightly as she hears Bright's soft tread heading towards the kitchen.

“That coffee smells amazing Gil, I…” Malcolm freezes as he sees Dani sitting at the table. She can see the pain in his eyes as he look at her and her heart drops somewhere down below her stomach.

“Bright,” she says quietly, “it wasn’t your fault.”

He takes half a step back and looks like he’s about to bolt, so she quickly gets to her feet.

“Please talk to me,” she pleads. “I’ve spent the last few hours searching the streets for you. I’ll spend the rest of my life doing it if you keep taking off.”

Malcolm sags in the doorway, looking utterly defeated.

“I hurt you,” he says, voice cracking. “I’m not safe.”

“You were sleeping. It was an accident. And I’m fine,” she replies firmly, but Malcolm still won’t look her in the eye. She sighs and asks, “Do you want to hurt me?”

Malcolm’s eyes dart up to hers, huge and filled with a heartbreaking sadness. “No! Oh my god, Dani. I never want to hurt you.”

She takes a tentative step towards him. Then another. And she keeps taking slow steps until she’s right in front of him.

“I know that, Bright. I know you'd never purposely hurt me. I know you,” she says quietly, willing him to see the truth in her words.

Malcolm’s jaw twitches a little before he finally says, so quietly she’s not even sure at first if she’s heard it right, “He said we're the same.”

Malcolm had long ago confided all of his childhood trauma to Dani, and she knows exactly he what he means when he says it. And it fills her with equal parts rage and despair when she realizes that Malcolm thinks that maybe he’s turning into his father.

Her lips purse and she breathes out sharply before she reaches forward and gently takes his hands in hers. She can feel the hesitance in his hands, but he doesn’t just yank them away, which she considers a win.

“You listen to me, Malcolm Bright,” she says firmly, and he looks at her in surprise at both the tone and the use of his full name. “You are _nothing_ like your father. Do you understand me? You are kind, and wonderful, and you've dedicated your life to stopping people like him.”

Malcolm's eyes dart over Dani, reading her micro-expressions and body language, and finding only honesty and love.

Dani tugs him forward and leads him to the table, gesturing for him to sit in the chair next to the one she'd just vacated. He slowly lowers himself to the chair, clearly unsure about everything, while she goes over and pours him a cup of coffee, knowing he won’t actually drink it but that it will give him something to do with his hands while they talk.

She sets the steaming cup in front of him and sits down beside him, angling her body to face him directly and leaning forward to close the distance just a little more.

“I love you,” she states resolutely “and I know you love me.”

Malcolm nods absently as he warms his hands on the hot mug, as if she’s only stating irrefutable facts that require no acknowledgement from him, like she just said the earth is round and water is wet.

“And I am not going to let you run away from us because of one little accident that wasn’t even your fault,” she continues.

“I hit you, Dani,” he says while staring into his coffee like it holds all the answers, then abruptly turns his gaze on her as he brokenly adds, “I am so sorry.”

“I know,” she takes one of his hand in hers, “and if it’s what you need to feel comfortable going forward, we’ll keep using the restraints at night. But just so you know, I’m willing to try again if you are.”

He yanks his hand back like her touch has burned him. “Are you insane? We can’t do that again, Dani. I could seriously hurt you. I think… I think it would be better if we stop seeing each other.”

Her mouth goes dry at the statement. But she can see how much saying it had cost Bright and puts her own feelings aside for a moment.

“No.”

Malcolm looked at her in confusion. “No?”

“No,” she repeated. “I already told you I’m not letting you run away from us.”

Malcolm’s mouth moved soundlessly as he worked out what to say to that, but as she so often did, she'd rendered him speechless once again.

“Malcolm, the fact that you’re willing to walk away from this,” she gestures between than two of them, “to keep me safe is all the proof you should need to show that you are nothing like your father. You are a good man, Bright. And I am willing to tell you that over and over every single day until it sinks in.”

Dani chews on her lip for a minute then reaches over to her purse and pulls out and opens the little ring box and slides it over to him.

“I mean, assuming you were planning on giving this to me, and if you still want to spend the rest of your life with me,” she says uncertainly. He looks down at the box and then over to her, seeing the insecurity in her eyes and hating himself a little more for putting that look on her face.

“God, Dani. I’ve never wanted anything more in my life,” he says, ardently. “The only reason I waited so long was because I wanted to make sure I could give you a normal life. But last night proves that I can’t. You deserve better than me, Dani, and I can’t be fixed.”

“There’s nothing to fix, Bright!” she practically shouts. “I don’t want normal. I want you. Exactly as you are. I want your obscene amount of baggage, and your crazy family, and your night terrors. I want every single part of you, Bright. Not some idealized normalcy that you think I should have.”

The pieces fall into place for Dani as she's speaking.

“That’s why you wanted to sleep without the restraints last night, isn’t it? You wanted to offer me a normal night before you proposed.”

Malcolm shoots her a sheepish smile and she knows she's right.

“You’re an idiot, Bright,” she chuckles.

He looks a little bewildered as she wraps a hand around the back of his head and pulls him forward into a tender kiss. He’s tense and unsure for a few seconds before slipping into the comfortable familiarity of their lips sliding together. They gradually pull apart but remain only inches away, breathing in each other's air.

“I love you so much,” eyes closed, he offers it like a prayer.

“I love you, too. And I promise you we’ll figure this out. Together.” She whispers back.

“If you kids are finished sorting your shit out,” Gil interrupts with a smile, “some of us have to get to work.”

Dani and Malcolm pull apart, giving Gil a view of the extravagant ring sitting open on the table, the lights of the small chandelier that Jackie had so loved dancing off the many diamonds, and Gil let’s loose a low whistle. They both look over at him then follow his line of site to the ring. 

Dani runs her hands up and down her thighs as she blushes and stammers, “It’s not… we're not… he didn’t actually…”

But Malcolm places a hand over hers where they’ve settled in her lap.

“This wasn’t at all how I had planned to do this, but--” Malcolm says, looking at Dani adoringly. He pushes his chair back and drops to one knee on the floor in front of her and continues, “Dani Powell, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. You are strong, loyal, beautiful and brilliant, and I am thankful everyday that you’ve chosen to share your life with me. And if you’ll let me, I will spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to make you happy and keep you safe. Will you marry me?”

He reaches over and pulls the ring from the box on the table, offering it to Dani with such love and hopefulness in his eyes that it gives Dani a whole kaleidoscope of butterflies in her stomach.

“Yes,” she whispers, and Malcolm immediately moves to slide the ring onto her finger. It fits perfectly, of course, and looks stunning on her delicate hand. She pulls him into her and throws her arms around his shoulders as he wraps his arms tightly around her waist.

They both look over as they hear a sniffle from the doorway to see Gil discreetly wiping a tear from his cheek. All three of them let out a collective chuckle, breaking the emotionally charged atmosphere of the room. Malcolm and Dani get to their feet and Gil hugs them both in turn, wishing them a heartfelt congratulations.

“Powell, I’ll mark you down as taking a personal day. You two lovebirds deserve to go celebrate the good news.”

“Thanks, boss,” Dani laughs.

After another round of hugs and congratulations, Dani and Malcolm order a car to take them home, Malcolm looking ridiculous in a pair of Gil's too-large sneakers. They spend the ride holding hands, Bright running his fingers over the new ring on Dani’s hand, both of them smiling widely. 

They get back to the apartment in good time, and take a quick shower together, washing away the anxiety and fear of the morning. They both change into their comfiest loungewear and head to the kitchen to make some toast, sitting at the breakfast bar together while they eat. Dani yawns widely halfway through her second slice, and Malcolm finally says what they’re both thinking.

“Bed?”

“Bed,” Dani agrees.

They walk over to the bed together, each of them picking up one of the restraints from the floor as they settle in to their respective sides. Malcolm holds each arm out in turn for Dani to put the restraints on, because he knows it makes her feel better if she does it for him; she told him once that if she puts them on him, it will be a reminder that he’s not alone to fight his nightmares anymore, and it makes it easier for her to accept the idea of the restraints. Dani tightens the straps a little tighter than usual, because she knows that on bad days, Malcolm needs the extra security to feel safe enough to sleep. 

And so they fall asleep as the rest of the city is beginning their day, newly engaged and ready to face whatever the world throws at them. Together.


End file.
